of walsall



W. CRANAGE.

GUARD FOR SEWING MACHINES. APPLICATION msn :uns 1. 1915.

Patented Aug. 15, `1916.

Unrrnn sra'rns narrar carica.

WILLIAM CRANAG-E, OF WALSALL, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO J OHN SHANNON AND SON, LIMITED, OF WALSALL, COUNTY OF STAFFORD, ENGLAND.

GUARD FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

To ZZ 1li/1.0m it may concern:

Be it known that TWILLIAM CRANAGE, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at George street, `Walsall, county of Stafford, England, mechanic, have invented new and useful Improvements in Guards for Sewing-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

llhis invention comprises improvements in guards for sewing machines and the like and refers to any type of machine in which the work passes under a presser foot or equivalent through which the needle for the stitching operation works.

rIhe object of the present invention is to provide an effective guard to prevent the possibility of the fingers of the operator coming under the needle in its downward or operative stroke. `With movable or detachable guards as hitherto known accidents are of frequent occurrence owing to the guard having been raised or moved away by the operator.

The present invention relates to a guard device integral with or rigidly secured to the presser foot, so that it is always in position around the needle point, the guard being formed of wire bows or loops arranged to diverge from the front of the presser foot so as to divert the fingers of the operator outwardly from the needle point.

In order that the invention may be thoroughly understood and easily carried into practice, l have appended hereunto a sheet of drawings showing the invention carried out in the preferred manner.

Figure l is a perspective view of a presser foot constructed in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof looking from the left at Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a similar view to Fig. 2 but looking-in the reverse direction. Fig. 4C is a plan of the presser foot and shows how the guard protects the fingers of the operator when pushing or feeding the material forwardly to the needle. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the presser foot and guard. Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 6 6 of Fig. 4.

The invention comprises a protecting bar or projection on each side of the needle path through the presser foot secured rigidly to the foot and arranged so as to protect the fingers of an operator from the needle, and

Serial No. 31,464.

if they are advanced toward it in feeding the material or work to the needle, to deflect them aside. This is carried out in the illustrated form of the invention by securing a bow like piece of wire a on one side of the presser foot and a second piece 0 to the other side, that is the short toe (Z of the presser foot. The shaped pieces a and c of wire may be secured by carrying their ends into holes in the presser foot and riveting them over therein as at 7", Fig. G. The wire for a and c should be of suitable material to render those parts rigid when they are secured in place so that they do not yield under pressure from the fingers of the operator. These pieces a and o are shaped so that from point to back they form diverging frictional surfaces to deflect the fingers outwardly from the needle point. This is clearly seen as regards 'a from the plan, Fig. 4, and as regards c will be appreciated from Fig. 4L and Fig. 5. The curved construction of the forward parts of a and c facilitate the returning of the fabric to the slot of the presser foot and the open nature of these parts gives freedom for observation.

Wvhat I'claim then is:

l. A guard for sewing machines comprising a presser foot, provided with a plurality of toes, a needle path between said toes, a bow of wire with its extremities secured in the one toe of the presser foot on one side of the needle slot, and a second bow secured similarly to the other toe on the other side of the presser foot, both bows being situated in planes slightly inclined to the vertical and oppositely to each other and diverging from the front of the foot.

2. A guard for sewing machines comprising a presser foot having a plurality of toes' with a needle path between them, a guard, upon said presser foot comprising two wire bows secured one upon each toe adjacent one another, and being situated in planes slightly inclined to the vertical and being near to each other at the front and diverging toward the rear to deflect the fingers of an operator to the sides of the needle path.

ln testimony whereof I aiiiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

l/VILLIAM CRANAGE. Witnesses:

W. V. HARVEY,

F. GILBERT BRETTELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner oi' Patents, Washington, D- C3 

